Day 10

John and I have been noticing over the past year that our grocery bills are getting outrageous.  Part of it is that things cost more in Texas.  I know everyone blabs about the cheap cost of living, but it’s simply not true.  Nothing beats the bulk prices of Macey’s and the associated food stores—Oh how I miss Macey’s!  But, that is not the point of this post.  We also spend more money on groceries because we do buy organic food, which costs more money. 

My picture from yesterday it not just to remind myself that my fridge is disgusting and needs to be cleaned, but that one of the major reasons that we spend more on food is twofold.  One, we don’t grow any of this ourselves anymore  We used to go down and steal raspberries from my dad, whereas now we have to buy them.  And, the major reason for our increased food expenses is that our kids actually eat a significant amount of food now.  For a while, they would seriously be able to just eat off our plates so to say.  They would eat a few slices of banana or a few crackers, but they actually eat a lot now—full bowls of cereal, adult servings of fruit, a whole batch of crepes.  This fridge reminds me that we buy such large containers of fruit at Sam’s now (there are raspberries, strawberries, grapes, and watermelon that you can see in this picture) because our kids actually are getting big enough to be major contributors to our food budget.  Well, they don’t really contribute in the traditional sense, but perhaps we could call them well-worth-it liabilities to our food budget.  And, it’s also to remind me that while I currently buy raspberries and strawberries and grapes and watermelon, I will soon be able to grow those myself if I want.  Not this next growing season because we’ll probably move in the middle of it, but certainly by the next.  And, if I get lazy and don’t make it, I can go steal some of my dad’s fruit!